Atlas Shrugged: The Mocking

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Death Of A Traitor

The Corner at National Review On-line is celebrating the life of journalist Robert Novak, giving examples of his humor (“Why is writing an editorial like taking a p*** in a serge wool suit? It feels great, but nobody notices!”), his skill at ferreting out information ("It was once impossible to have a casual conversation with Bob without him pouncing on a random remark if he spotted that a tidbit of news had been shared."), and his professional courtesy ("Once he told me that letting women join the National Press Club had ruined the organization.")

Novak was also known for his love of fast driving and his dislike of slowing down after he had run over someone. A witness related how he chased down Novak after the latter hit a very old homeless man, throwing him over the windshield of Novak's sleek Corvette convertible.

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, [David] Bono said "a black Corvette convertible with top closed plows into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed into the windshield.” Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “This car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.

He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street, finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blaring, until commuters behind Novak backed up so he could pull over.Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a news personality but could not precisely place him. Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”

It's a pity Novak didn't see his victim, since he was so fond of the idea of running over people who are walking across the street. From an interview given long before he ran over the old man:

After witnesses saw him scream at a pedestrian, Novak explained to the [Washington Post]: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

SV, I understand and I don't like to say bad things about the dead, but I do it anyway. Journalists depend on politeness and a dislike of unpleasantness to get away with abandoning their responsibilities and/or shilling for the rich.

I know most folks are reluctant to speak ill of the dead. So I won't, lest that ill find its way to some wingnut blog as evidence of how positively BEASTLY liberals are. Instead, I would like to rise in defense of Novak's hitting that cyclist...doesn't ANYONE appreciate how hard it is for a freakin' dwarf to SEE out of a Corvette?